Bollywood filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj hopes to bring a moving theatre to Kashmir for the screening of his upcoming release ‘Haider’.
A request for special screenings of his adaptation of ‘Hamlet’ in the valley is now with the state’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the lead up to its global release on October 2. The film was shot in Kashmir.

“We have sent a proposal to Mr Omar Abdullah because there are no working theatres in Kashmir and I really want Kashmiris to experience this film on a bigger screen,” Bhardwaj told PTI during a visit to London this week.

“We are proposing a kind of moving theatre which can be set up in an outdoor location where Kashmiris can catch maybe one show a day once it’s dark. I really hope the proposal gets accepted,” added the writer-director-musician.

‘Haider’ was shot during ‘chillai kalan’ (40 coldest days in December and January in Kashmir) with many of the locals doubling up as part of the crew. The film completes Bhardwaj’s Shakespearean trilogy, following ‘Maqbool’ (2003), adapted from ‘Macbeth’, and ‘Omkara’ (2006) which was based on ‘Othello’.

“Hamlet is a very coveted part. It’s a huge compliment just to be considered for it and very daunting to actually play it. You really do feel ‘to be or not to be’ as an actor towards the end of it,” said Shahid Kapoor, who plays the lead role of ‘Haider’ based on Shakespeare’s tragic Danish prince.

He had to undergo a major transformation for his part, including going bald and wearing lenses to have a lighter shade of eyes to fit into the milieu of Kashmir.

“I am very comfortable in uncomfortable spaces as an actor. My look is drastically different from anything I have done before but eventually it is the mental journey of the character that has to be interpreted besides the physical,” he added.

The actor has been reunited with Bhardwaj after their 2009 box-office hit ‘Kaminey’ and its sequel ‘Maha Kaminey’ is expected to follow ‘Haider’.